45 Fools! your doublets shone with gold, and your hearts were gay and bold,

When you kissed your lily hands to your lemans

today;

And tomorrow shall the fox, from her chambers in the rocks,

Lead forth her tawny cubs to howl above the prey.

Where be your tongues that late mocked at heaven and hell and fate,

50 And the fingers that once were so busy with your blades,

Your perfum'd satin clothes, your catches and your oaths,

Your stage-plays and your sonnets, your diamonds and your spades?

Down, down, for ever down with the mitre and the

crown,

With the Belial of the Court and the Mammon of

the Pope;

55 There is woe in Oxford halls: there is wail in Durham's Stalls:

The Jesuit smites his bosom: the Bishop rends his

cope.

And She of the seven hills shall mourn her children's

ills,

And tremble when she thinks on the edge of Eng

land's sword;

And the Kings of earth in fear shall shudder when they hear

What the hand of God hath wrought for the Houses and the Word.

LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME.

NOTES.

LOCALITIES:

In the sixth century B. C., the Etrurians occupied Northern Italy, and extended on the west, with the Tiber for their general boundary, almost to the gates of Rome. On the eastern or Adriatic side, came the people of Latin blood, speaking the dialects of Central Italy the Latini, the Umbri, the Sabini, the Volsci, etc. South of the Tiber, these people covered the peninsula. There were Pelagian and Greek colonies in the South, and small Phoenician colonies in Sardinia and Sicily.

One of the most effective things in the Lays is the sonorous use of proper names. These serve two purposes; first, their mere sound is so skillfully interwoven that it adds resonance and helps the swing of the measure; second, they add to the vividness of the scene by a rich and romantic suggestion of local color. To the reader with intimate knowledge of Italy, these names have in themselves a rare charm of association. But the younger reader does not gain much by stopping in his reading to learn that a little town is in Northern Latium or Southern Etruria. The editor has therefore simply gathered the names together in the Geographical Index that follows, which can be consulted at will and has referred to this Index from time to time in the Notes. Additional study of a classical Atlas is recommended to students curious concerning geography.

Most of the places in Horatius lie to the North of Rome, in Etruria, whence the troops march on the city. In The Battle of the Lake Regillus, the troops march from Latium, the province to the South; but the coming of the Great White Brethren is accompanied by many Greek names. Virginia has no geographical allusions. In The Prophecy of Capys, the scene is laid near Alba Longa, the mother-city of Rome; but other localities are mentioned in the prophecy of the extending triumphs of the city.

OTHER LOCALITIES:

HORATIUS.

The story is told in Livy, Book II, 10.

1. Lars Porsena: Lars was the old Etruscan word for Lord, ɔr Chieftain. It was an hereditary title.

3. House of Tarquin: The dynasty of Tarquin. House of Hapsburg.

6. Trysting day: This medieval word is in keeping with the frankly romantic tone of the Lays. Macaulay freely uses terms from the old English ballads.

36.

Triremes: Vessels propelled by three banks of oars. Familiar in classic times.

37. Fair-haired slaves: Slaves from Northern countries, whose fair hair was always an amazement to the Romans.

39. Through corn, etc. In Italy the fields of grain and the vineyards are often gay with flowers, like the bright rosy wild gladiolus, and our Love in a Mist, and red tulips.

40. Cortona: For this and preceding proper names in this stanza, see Geographical Index.

63. Must: The new wine, trodden from the grapes. Wine is still made in this way in Italy.

72. Traced from the right: Etruscan writing, derived from the Phoenicians, was written in this way, still practised in some parts of the Orient. The Etruscan religion placed great stress on omens of various kinds.

79. Royal dome: The word dome here stands for any impressive building. Cf. Latin domus, house. Compare Coleridge's Kubla

Khan:

80.

In Xanada did Kubla Khan

A stately pleasure-dome decree..

Nurscia: Probably the goddess of good-fortune.

81. In the early days of Rome there was found in the court yard of the king's palace a golden shield, which the priests de clared had fallen from heaven; and while it remained safe, they said, Rome could not be conquered. To protect it from theft, eleven other shields exactly like it were made, and twelve priests appointed to guard the twelve shields.

83. Tale: Compare our modern word "tally." "Tale" in this sense means the number counted. Cf. Milton's L'Allegro:

And every shepherd tells his tale.

96. Mamilius was Tarquin's son-in-law. His home, Tusculum is famous in later Roman annals from the distinguished Romans, Cicero in particular, who had villas there.

100. Champaign: Latin campum. Compare French "Champ" and modern Italian "Campagna," by which name the level country around Rome still goes.

113. Note how admirably the impression of breathless haste is increased by the absence of any pause except a comma at the end of this line. These three stanzas are memorable for the vivid use of concrete detail in which Macaulay excels.

115. Skins of wine: The Cossacks and other Orientals still carry liquids in bottles made of skins sewed firmly together.

121.

122.

Roaring: What is the force of this word?
The Tarpeian rock overhung the Tiber.

Tarpeia was a